The Wedding Planner
by C.A. Penny
Summary: Hitomi is sent back to Gaea just in time to plan Van's wedding...  To another girl.  Does she still love him?  Or will she discover emotions that she had long since given up on?
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Hey all! I've decided to revisit this story after having removed it a while back. I"m currently editting and writing additional chapters. Maybe I'll actually be able to finish it this time! Who knows? I am going to continue For Life and Love, though I'm not really liking a couple of aspects of it. I'm not completely abandoning it yet, I'm going to see if I can salvage it into something that I'll like writing. ~C.A.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. This story is purely for entertainment purposes.

**Chapter One**

She never wanted to leave, but something inside told her that going back home was the right thing to do. A small piece of her eats away at her for not staying but that is overcome by her success.

Hitomi Kanzaki, now 23, had graduated from university and was now a highly successful wedding planner. She was the besting her firm and all the weddings she had ever done had gone off without a hitch, even though some of the actual marriages were a flop. She hoped one day she would end up planning her own wedding.

So now here she was, overlooking one of the biggest weddings of her career. She was actually kind of excited because this was hopefully going to be the one that would make her a partner in the firm.

"You may now kiss the bride," the priest had just finished the ceremony, and now it was off to the reception.

Hitomi looked at her ever-present clipboard. "Okay everyone, time to get over to the banquet hall." She looked over it again, "And someone make sure the photographers are on time this time. I don't want another Molson-Kennedy Wedding disaster!" She heard a chorus of, `Yes,' then jumped into her car to head over to the hall.

Hitomi unlocked the door to her apartment. She threw her purse onto the coffee table in front of the T.V., and then headed down the hall to her bedroom. She began undressing, and put on a pair of track pants and an old t-shirt.

She was about to walk back out to the living room when she stopped in front of her dresser. Without even thinking her hand went towards the far right-hand drawer. She opened it and pulled out a mahogany box, inside were her tarot cards. For years she had fought the erg to take them out and use them.

`Why now?" she asked herself. `Why do I feel a strong pull towards then now?'

She picked up the deck in her hands. It felt familiar; she could feel the power of them again. Unconsciously she touched the up card and turned it over to see what it was. The Lovers. As she looked at it memories of Gaea and Van came back to her. She put the card back with the deck, but she did not put it back into the box. She walked over to the bed and placed the tarot deck under her pillow, and went to bed. Her dreams filled with memories from when she was fifteen.

Heading down the midday traffic, Hitomi was in a hurry. She had woken-up later than usual and was now late for a meeting with some new clients. She pulled her red Honda Civic in front of the building, grabbed her bag full of books of samples and flower arrangements, and was about to open to get out of the car when a vision came.

She saw another car hit hers and blow up in a furry of fire. She caught her breath, and was about to continue leaving her car when something hit her from behind. She knew her vision was coming true.

`Please. I don't want to die yet,' she prayed, `let me see him again.'

Witnesses to the accident told police that as the red Honda blew up they saw a column of blue light touch down and disappear just as fast. Authorities dismissed it as an illusion, or they just saw blue flame. They all had no clue that the reason they had not a body was because she was now on another planet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

She awoke to the sound of running water. As Hitomi opened her eyes, she saw one of the most beautiful streams that she had ever seen. The stream was crystal clear so she could see the rocky bottom. Lilies of white, pink and lavender surrounded her.

She suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and put her hand to her head, as she put her hand down she noticed that it now had some blood on it. She deduced that she must have hit her head on the steering wheel or the window.

She looked at her other hand and saw that she was still holding her bag with all the books of flower arrangements and stuff.

"Well at least if I get roped into planning a wedding, I'm prepared." She looked around at her surrounding again and got up to find someone who could tell her where she was.

Hitomi was wondering where on Gaea she was. She knew she was on Gaea, the look of the land, the fresh air, she just knew. Not-to-mention she could also see the earth in the sky. Yup, definitely Gaea.

She slowly got up from where she was sitting, and began to dowse. She hadn't done it in years, but it was just like riding a bicycle. She felt herself being pulled strongly in one direction, so that's where she walked, trusting her instincts.

She kept on walking until she came upon a city. She had a strange sense familiarity to this place. She was walking along, getting strange looks from people she passed, until she reached a restaurant.

She walked in and looked around. It was a nice place. It had a few tables and the smell of food was very welcoming.

She stood in the centre of the large room, admiring the fancy paintings that were on the walls, when a voice from behind her knocked her back to reality.

"Excuse me Miss, but may I help you?" It was a young cat-girl who asked the question. She looked to be about eighteen.

"Uh… Yes. Could you please tell me where I am?" Hitomi was trying to avoid he fact that she was from the Mystic Moon because of what happened last time when everyone knew where she was from.

The girl looked at her strangely for a moment and then smiled. "You're the Girl from the Mystic Moon aren't you?"

Hitomi was a little shocked at first, how did she know who she was? She just nodded and asked, "How did you know?"

Again the girl smiled and said, "Lucky guess." She paused for a moment and continued, "You happen to be in luck, you just happen to be standing in the country of Fanelia."

Hitomi's jaw nearly hit the floor. She was in Fanelia? It seemed too good to be true. She knew that there was a reason why she was pulled in this direction.

The cat-girl, noticing Hitomi's silence, continued, "I could bring you up to the castle if you want. I know for a fact that you would probably want to see the king."

"And how would you know that? We just met."

"Uh, Hello! You're famous all over Gaea! It's common knowledge that your and King Van's love saved all of Gaea."

Hitomi looked shocked. She had no idea that information was `common knowledge.' I guess you learn something new everyday.

"Well do you want me to bring you to the palace or not?"

Hitomi looked at her strangely. She didn't even know this girl and thanks to `common knowledge' she knew everything about her while she was on Gaea. "Um… sure. I just want to know one thing, since you know my name, what's yours?"

"Oh! I'm sorry! I totally forgot. My name is Kiara." She was blushing a bit from her rudeness.

"Nice to meet you, Kiara."

"Now, let's get you to the palace. I'm sure you would love to see the king again."

Hitomi was blushing like mad. She knew that deep down she had some lingering feelings, or did she just thing of him as a friend? You don't find your soul mate at the age of 15… Do you? Now she was confused. Maybe she could get her feelings straightened out when she saw him. "Sure, let's get going."

Kiara smiled. Hitomi was certain that she saw a hint of something in her eyes, probably mischief. Then she was grabbed by the arm and dragged down the streets of Fanelia. Had Hitomi not kept on running over the years her arm would have been pulled out of her socket, because Kiara was running really fast.

Then just as suddenly as they had started, they stopped. Kiara was breathing heavily but when she talked it sounded natural. "Okay. Just go up this street and you'll come to the palace gate. You could probably just mention that you are the Girl from the Mystic Moon, and they'll roll out the bloody red carpet for you." She paused for a moment, "Just remember: True love will conquer all." With that last statement said, she was off. Hitomi didn't even ask what she meant by what she said last. She just shrugged it off, straightened out her outfit and began walking up the street. She was very nervous, she had no idea what to expect.

As she approached the gate, the guard started looking at her very weirdly. "What business do you have in the palace?" he asked when she got to where he stood.

She began fidgeting with the neckline, where her pendant would have been, and answered, "I'm Hitomi Kanzaki. The Girl from the Mystic Moon." Really didn't want to have to proclaim that, but it was the only way that she knew that she could into the palace.

The guard's jaw nearly dropped. "Are you serious?" Hitomi gave him a look that basically answered his question. "Go ahead in. Just walk straight in. You'll come upon the throne room right away. King Van should be there." With that he opened the gate for her, and she thanked him for the directions.

As she walked down the cavernous hallway, she had to keep on reminding herself to breath. Why was she getting so worked up over this? It's not like he was going to totally reject her, was he? She had so many questions and no answers to any of them.

She approached to double doors that led to the throne room. In front of them stood a very snobbish looking man.

"Name." He even sounded snobbish. She guessed that he was going to announce her presence to everyone in the room behind the doors.

"Hitomi Kanzaki," she waited until his jaw dropped and continued, "From the Mystic Moon." She sighed at his reaction. Why did everyone react like that?

The man regained his composure and nodded, then opened the doors. He told her to stay for a moment and walked into the room shutting the door behind him. After a minute of silence she heard murmurs and a very loud, "WHAT THE FUCK!"

The guard came out again and led Hitomi into the throne room. It was very large and had various tapestries hanging on the walls that depicted the outcome of the Destiny War. About twenty feet in front of her, she guessed, were the advisors to the King of Fanelia, (she also guessed that it must have been one of them who shouted five minutes ago). But the king was nowhere in the room.

"His Majesty is not here at the moment. He is being brought to the throne room as we speak. He still does not know of you arrival." It was the guard who led her into the room who spoke.

Hitomi began fidgeting wither neckline again. She was doing that a lot lately. Maybe it was because her nerves were just about shot from all the yelling she had to endure from angry bride's mothers and what-not. She straightened out her outfit again and fixed her hair.

Just then another guard walked into the room followed by a man and a woman. As she looked at the man she knew right away that it had to be Van. But who was this girl? Hitomi had never seen her before. Unconsciously she began to hyperventilate.

The guard who had told the advisors of her arrival spoke first, "You Highness, may I present to you, Lady Hitomi Kanzaki from the Mystic Moon."

Van's jaw nearly hit the floor. The girl beside him suddenly looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Hitomi took a slight step forward and did a little curtsy. "Hello, Your Majesty," she said, using the title while in the presence of the advisors. She raised herself slowly and noticed that she was still carrying her bag. _Why didn't I leave this in the forest?_

Van smiled at her and ordered his advisors to go around other business and that he was not to be disturbed for the rest of the day. He then took the hand of the girl beside him and led the two women out to the gardens.

Van was the first to start conversation, "Hitomi. How have you been?"

Hitomi, fully aware that he was still holding the hand of that woman, answered his question, "I've been doing fine. I graduated from school and I'm now one of the top wedding planners in my firm."

Van's eyes brightened just a bit, "Wedding planner?"

Hitomi was a little confused by this. "Yes. Wedding planner." She paused for a moment then continued, "I help couples plan their weddings. I have ideas for flower arrangements, bands, where to have it and so on."

"Could I ask you a favour?" he paused seeing that she was nodding, "Could you help my fiance and I to plan our wedding?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

"What?" Hitomi was in a state of shock. She knew something was weird about this woman beside him. She just seemed to close to him, as if the handholding hadn't given it away.

_I should have seen it coming._

Van stated what he said again, "Would you help us plan our wedding? Since you have experience with it, you should have ideas that we haven't even considered."

Almost right away Hitomi slapped on her best fake smile and said in her business voice, "Sure. I'm going to have to have a meeting with the two of you sometime." She paused for a moment to look at Van and then to his fiancée. "It's just to make plans and whatnot. I need your consensus about arrangements and stuff."

Van's smiled, "Great. I'll have one of the guest rooms ready for you." He looked into her eyes, "It's great to have you back Hitomi." He began to lead the women to the benches located in the gardens so they could sit and converse properly.

Hitomi smiled back at him. He was still quite handsome, maybe more than what she remembered.

As they reached the benches, a page came out of the palace coming towards them. He whispered something to Van, who nodded.

"Excuse me ladies, there's something that needs my attention." And he left, heading in the direction that the page had come from, leaving Hitomi and Van's fiancé alone together.

Hitomi turned to Van's fiancé and began to study her outward appearance. She was about the same height as Hitomi, may be a bit taller, her hair was strawberry-blond with some light-brown highlights, and her eyes were a stunning blue. She was dressed in a dressy yet casual dress that was a light blue. She looked rather fragile and very skinny, but held her head high as to intimidate her other woman. Hitomi guessed that she must be a princess of some country or something.

"So," Hitomi started, "Since Van, decided to not tell me your name, why don't you?"

The woman smiled a bit and answered her question, "My name is Alicia. I'm from the near country of Basram. I'm the princess there."

"I thought that you were a princess." Hitomi put on her work face and looked at the bag in her left hand. "How would you like to look at a few flower arrangements? Most of the grooms I've met don't really care about this stuff and usually leave to the brides and I to decide. Then you Van and I can get together and I can ask the usual questions."

Alicia smiled, "Sure, I would love to." She then moved over to sit on a bench and motioned for Hitomi to join her.

The two women sat on the bench looking at some of the most popular flower arrangements and other stuff that the men would have no clue about. Soon their conversation moved from the flowers to how Alicia and Van had met.

"So, you two met at his twenty-second birthday celebration? That sounds nice." Hitomi wished that their conversation were still on the flowers or maybe china patterns because for some reason this topic was depressing her.

Alicia, on the other hand, loved talking about this. Hitomi could tell that she was very much in love with Van.

"Yes it was nice." She paused to look over Hitomi. "Do you mind me asking, but why have you come back to Gaea? I mean, it's been eight years, why now?"

Hitomi was caught off guard by the question. The last thing that she remembered was the car hitting hers. "I… I… My car was hit by another one and the last thing I remember is having a vision." She paused a bit, knowing that she had Alicia's full attention, "If only I could remember what the vision was about."

"Don't worry about it. I think that Van's happy that you are here to help us plan our special day and share it with us."

"Your welcome. Now how about we get back to work."

* * *

It was three hours since Hitomi had arrived at the Fanelian palace and learned of Van's engagement to the princess of Basram, Alicia. Hitomi thought Alicia was a nice girl but she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous when she saw Van' and her holding hands or kissing.

_Why is this affecting me like this? It's not like I still love him._

She looked in the bag she had with her since she arrived on this planet. It held most of the things she would need to help Van and Alicia plan their wedding and a few other things as well. She was looking through it when she came across her tarot cards.

"When did I put these in here?" She honestly couldn't remember even taking them out from under her pillow that morning. She took them out of the bag and shuffled them thoroughly and laid out the first four cards in front of her. The first card was the Queen of Swords, then the Page of Chalices, King of Chalices and Queen of Chalices.

"A dilemma involving my love life? No, that can't be it." She looked at the spread again and shrugged.

"What can't be it?"

Hitomi looked at the door and there stood a cat-woman whom she had spent so much time with during the Destiny War.

"Hello Merle. How have you been?" She smiled at the younger woman.

"Wow, Hitomi. You have been here for three hours and you've spent almost all of that time with Alicia. I feel like you have betrayed me." Merle said this with a hint of humour in her voice so Hitomi knew that she was joking.

"It's nice to see you too."

The tow friends just looked at each other and suddenly burst out into laughter. Hitomi got up and move closer to Merle. They then hugged each other so tight that they both could hardly breath when they let go.

"Well what brings you back after so many years?" Merle asked

So Hitomi told her the exact some thing she told Alicia. "And I still don't remember what the vision was. I must have hit my head pretty hard."

Merle listened intently the whole time and nodded to Hitomi's statement. "You said that what you saw has something to do with this `car accident,' maybe you saw your own death or something like that."

Hitomi thought about what Merle had said. It was a probability. She closed her eyes and though about the vision. Then she remembered. She saw the other car hit hers and her cars blow up. "Oh no. I remember. I saw a car hit mine and I guess my gas tank leaked and…" She couldn't' finish. She was in tears. "I can't go home. Everyone must think that I'm dead."

Merle was utterly confused. "Why would they think your dead?"

Hitomi explained what she remembered and told her that there was no way that someone could survive that. She was just lucky that she was transported to Gaea just seconds before the explosion.

"Oh Hitomi, I'm so sorry." She grabbed the older woman into a tight hug to sooth her hysterics. Poor Hitomi could no longer go home because everyone thought that she was now dead.

"I'm going to be okay now Merle. I guess since I just remembered, it came as a real shock." Hitomi was trying to take deep breathes to calm herself down. She didn't know what she was going to do anymore…

Merle took notice that her friend looked really tired and guessed that she must have had a long busy day, even though it was barely lunchtime. "You should get some rest. You just took in a lot of information and you look like you really need it too."

Hitomi nodded and got up to go to her bed. She really was tired and the realization that she was no longer able to go home had yet to sink in. She went over to the bed and pulled back the covers. Merle noted that she looked almost zombie-like and it kind of freaked her out a bit.

Merle left the room and closed the door shut quietly. She was about the leave when Van came around the corner.

"Merle is Hitomi inside? I would like to talk to her." He was about to open the door when Merle stepped in front of him.

"You can't go in there. Hitomi just went to sleep." She paused for a moment and took Van's arm; "I need to tell you something about why Hitomi's here." Then she led him down the hall and around the corner to his study.

Hitomi was having trouble getting to sleep. She knew that she needed it but it was just hard because she was still thinking about what had happened before she got here.

"Why is it that I ended up here instead of being blown up with my car?" she asked herself. She kept on thinking and thinking but could not come up with a good enough answer. Given her present situation, she almost wished that she had been blown up with the vehicle. She finally gave up and turned over in her bed and went to sleep.

* * *

It was about two hours later when Hitomi awoke from her rest. She sighed and went over to her window and sat on the ledge. She was staring up at the Mystic Moon when a knock came from her door.

"Come in," she said, not really knowing who it might be.

The door opened up to the King of Fanelia himself. He looked rather worried and this puzzled Hitomi.

"Lover's quarrel?" she asked.

He looked at her and simply said, "No." He walked over to the table that was in her room and pulled out one of the chairs and sat down. "I wanted to see if you were okay. Merle told me what you told her."

Hitomi could have killed Merle if she was there but didn't make anything of it. "So she told you? That's the last time I tell her something in confidence."

"Well are you okay? I know that you cannot go back to the Mystic Moon now and that must have some kind of effect on you."

She smiled at his concern, "I'm sure that I'll be fine," she paused for a moment, "Maybe helping you with this wedding will keep my mind off of it."

"Good. I just wanted to make sure that you could handle all of this. I'm not expecting you to work on this wedding every hour of the day though."

"Don't worry I won't. I have to have a life too, you know." She smiled at him again, "But I do have to get together with you and Alicia because I need to ask you some questions about the wedding party and stuff." She paused again and said rather quickly, "I'm going to have to do some research on Fanelian weddings too. I have done weddings other than the regular Christian wedding but it took quite a bit of study of how it was done."

Van nodded at her request and answered, "The library is down the hall so you can some research there and you can have a meeting with Alicia and I later this evening, if that is okay with you."

She nodded in agreement. Then she said, "Fanelia looks beautiful now. We should get together sometime and we can do some catching up. Eight years is a long time."

"Yes we should." Van looked at the table, at which he was sitting and looked at what it was upon it, "You still read tarot cards? I thought that you might have given them up."

Hitomi took notice of the cards that she had left on the table, "I did, actually. I just took them out of the box I had them is the other day. I don't know, but I feel pulled to them again."

"Okay, but I just think that you should be careful with these. You remember what happened last time you were here."

Hitomi looked almost annoyed with what he had just said, "Van I know. I'm not fifteen anymore. I'm a grown woman. I know the consequences."

"Don't get mad. I'm just worried about you."

"You don't have to be, but thank you anyway."

Van looked around and said, "It's almost time for dinner. So I'll leave you to get ready. See you later." With that he got up and left the room.

Hitomi just stared after him and then got up to look at herself in the full-length mirror by her bed. She looked kind of good considering she just woke up and she was sleeping in her clothes. She found a brush in her bag and began to brush her hair. Over the years is had grown a great length, it was now down to the middle of her back.

She was about to leave the room when the door burst open revealing Merle in the doorway.

"Are you coming down to dinner?" she asked.

Hitomi looked at her as if to say, `Duh.'

"What are you going to wear?"

Hitomi looked puzzled, "What I'm wearing now. I have nothing else."

Merle stopped to think, "Right. And I don't have time to get you a proper dress." Just then she got a look on her face that made Hitomi very worried. Then without warning Merle grabbed Hitomi's arm and took her to her room.

"Now, we look to be about the same size, so you should be able to fit into my clothes." Then she went over to the closet and started pulling out dresses. They all looked very nice and casual.

"Aha! This one would be perfect." Merle pulled out a full length gown. It was green and had gold embroidery along the bottom and along the bust.

Hitomi was speechless. Never in her adult life had she worn something so beautiful. "Are you sure? I don't know if it'll look that good on me." She was being self-conscious. And not too sure why. Who was she going to impress?

Merle looked at the dress, " It'll look fine on you Hitomi. You'll look gorgeous." She held up the dress to Hitomi, "And the green of the dress makes your eyes really stand out."

Hitomi took the dress from Merle and went behind a screen that she had set up in the room. When she came out from behind it she looked at herself in the full-length mirror that Merle had. She looked quite nice and the dress hugged her body in all the right places so it showed off a nice hourglass figure.

Hitomi protested about putting on make up and getting hair done. She had said that it is just dinner and no one would make a big deal about her appearance, but Merle said that it is a big deal because it was a royal court and dinner is a big deal.

When they were finished they headed down to the dining room, but even Merle hadn't even guessed what was waiting for them there.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Hitomi was being led to the dinning room by Merle. The halls from her room leading to the main hall were long and it took a while for them to reach the dinning room.

This gave Hitomi a lot of time to think about her current situation.

She was convinced that planning this wedding for Van and Alicia was going to be the toughest thing that she had to do. She didn't know why but she just thought that. May be she still had feelings for Van. No. That couldn't be it. She had gotten over him so she could get on with her life on the Mystic Moon.

"Here we are," said Merle. They were just in front of the main hall.

As they walked in, Hitomi could see a table long enough to hold at least twenty people. Each place was formally set for a five-course meal. Almost everyone was sitting waiting for herself and Merle. When they walked further towards the other people heads turned towards Hitomi. Most of them were Van's advisors and whatnot, but one person stood out from the crowd.

"Allen?" asked Hitomi. The man turned around and smiled at her. It was the infamous Knight of Cali, Allen Schezar. He hadn't changed much in eight years to Hitomi's surprise. His hair was still girlishly long and he was wearing his knight uniform. He looked as hansom as ever.

"Why, Hitomi. It's good to see you." He gave her a smile that she had seen from him ever since the day she met him. He took her arm and led her to the table and seated her to the right of him, while he sat to the right of Van.

"Well I never thought I would be seeing you so soon Allen," Hitomi started.

He turned to her and said, "Well, I thought that I would pay Van a visit before he gets married. I wanted to take him out for one last hurrah as a bachelor but he won't go for it. Something about being loyal to his bride."

Hitomi giggled, because it sounded so much like Van. But then she saddened a bit. She was beginning to think that she still had feelings for the King of Fanelia.

She sighed and said, "I hope that they have a good marriage. I just wish that I wasn't planning it."

Allen's eyes widened, "You're planning the wedding? Do you know what your doing?"

Hitomi fully turned in her seat so she could face him properly and gave him a crooked smile, if it had been anyone else she would have been insulted, "Of course I know what I'm doing. If I didn't do you think that I would agree to it?" She then turned back around to face the person sitting across from her. It was Alicia

"Hitomi, is that one of Merle's dresses?" she asked, "You looked really nice in it." Hitomi could tell she was trying to make small talk, and she really didn't want to talk to her. Mostly because Alicia seemed to bug her to no ends.

She just nodded and waited for the meal to begin.

When everyone was eating she involved herself with the conversation going on around her. Most of it was about Van's wedding and Hitomi had agreed to plan it. From what she heard, she got the impression that everyone was quite surprised that she could. It seemed to her that this planet was still in the phase the women could do nothing for themselves and had to have a man do everything. Well she would show them.

She was burst from her thoughts by a voice calling her name, "Hitomi." She looked up and Van was looking at her peculiarly. "I was just wondering how you expect to plan the wedding. As you can see, some people are very sceptical."

She put on her business face again, she seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and looked at everyone around her. "Well, I give patterns and arrangements to the bride and groom to choose from. I give pointers and advice. I'm mostly there to make sure the ceremony and the reception don't have any glitches."

There was a series of nods and mumbles of how that didn't seem too hard. Then Allen, who had remained silent, spoke up, "So you are saying that you are an advisor to couples."

"Yes, but not quite," she paused to take a sip of her wine and continued, "I usually have to help brides and grooms with preparations, but sometimes, when the couple is totally inept, they give me their ideas and I take them and make the wedding of their dreams."

Again she received a bit a nods and the odd mumble of something incoherent but it didn't seem to faze her. She remained calm and her look said she was not to be questioned on this matter.

No one said anything about her planning the wedding after that, they were talking about how happy a couple Van and Alicia were going to be and that you could see how much they loved each other.

Hitomi, not wanting to hear anymore, excused herself and got up from the table in a hurry. No body noticed a single tear sliding down the side of her face.

Hitomi ran up to her room, and fling herself onto the bed. She then began crying her eyes out and had no idea why. How come she was reacting like this? She was over him. Right?

"Do I still love him?" she asked no one in particular. She was lying face down on her bed and her pillow was fully soaked form her crying.

She got up and went over to the table were her tarot cards lay. She shuffled the deck and drew a random card. The Lovers. Great. Now the Powers were telling her that she was still in love.

Putting the card in her notebook that she carried with her when she was working she walked out of her room to Van's study. She had almost forgot that she had a meeting with him and his wife-to-be.

She only had to ask for directions once. She walked up to a pair of double-doors and knocked. After she heard an acknowledgement she entered the room.

It wasn't an extremely large room. There was a desk, and two guest chairs in front of it. There were paintings of past rulers and their families on the walls and on the shelves were several books. From were she stood it looked like a quite comfortable room for any ruler who was stuck doing paperwork all day.

Van was sitting behind the desk and his blushing bride sat in one of the guest chairs. She motioned to Hitomi to sit in the one beside her. Hitomi took the seat without a word and took out her notebook and a pen.

"Now I just need to know some basics,"

As if Alicia could make the whole wedding anymore complicated for Hitomi. The wedding was going to be at the end of the month so it only gave Hitomi less than three weeks to get to know Fanelian wedding ceremonies and plan the actual wedding. She had a sinking feeling that she was going to hate this with every fibre of her being but pushed the thought aside.

Hitomi was sitting on her bed looking through her notebook reading the notes that she took during the meeting she had with Van and Alicia. By the looks of it, it was going to be a very big wedding. They were going all out for this. Of course, it was a wedding for royalty. It had to be big and fancy.

Sighing Hitomi turned to the back of the book. There were wedding dress designs and flower arrangements that she liked the best. She wanted those for her own wedding. Sighing again she closed the book and decided to go for a walk.

She wandered the halls of the palace, admiring paintings and tapestries, for about forty-five minutes when she arrived at the garden.

Even though it was late at night several torches illuminated the walkway. It made the gardens look otherworldly. There were several night blooming flowers around, so it made the garden look alive, even in the dark of night.

She walked cautiously along the walkway when she got the feeling that she was not alone. She turned a corner and saw Van attacking an invisible opponent. He looked very into what he was doing and she was gong to leave when he turned around and spoke.

"Who ever you are, I know that you are there."

She walked around the corner and smiled at him, "So much for sneaking up on you."

As she looked at him she could tell that he was just working on his swordsmanship. For some reason she liked watching him. His movements seemed to be poetic in a way.

Van smiled in at her and sat down at a nearby bench and motioned for her to come join him. "Are you ok? When you ran out of the dinner I was worried."

Hitomi's face darkened remembering how she had left dinner so soon. "I wasn't feeling to well just then," she lied. As if she would tell him that she was upset because of Alicia and him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "I was going to go after you but you seemed like you wanted to be alone."

_I wouldn't have minded if it were you._

"I was just a little homesick that's all," she assured him.

Just as soon as the conversation had started it had stopped. Hitomi just sat there listening to the sounds of their breathing and her heart beat. She looked over at him and noticed that he was staring at her. It wasn't uncomfortable but he was just looking at her with such intensity that it almost scared her, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

A sad expression on his face told her that it had something to do with her. "I just haven't seen or heard from you in eight years. I really missed you."

She looked at him and returned the sad expression, "I missed you too. I didn't even forget everything that we had done together, but somehow I got through high school and I got through university and now I'm an acclaimed wedding planner. Well at least I was." She paused for a moment to look at the Mystic Moon in the sky, "I just never thought I would be coming back, because if I did I would find out that everyone had moved on, and I was right."

"People move on Hitomi. You should know that."

She sighed and looked him straight in the eye, "I thought that I did but I haven't dated anyone since I got back form Gaea. I basically drowned myself in schoolwork till the end of high school and again in university. I haven't gone out with anyone. I've been a social outcast mostly because my mind was stuck on one person that I could not for get."

Hitomi couldn't believe she just told him all of this. But then again it was always easy to tell him what was on her mind. She felt a single tear fall down her face. Great. Now she was crying.

Van, noticing the tears, pulled her into an embrace and stroked her hair.

No words were spoken. They just sat there in each other's arm. Neither of them noticed a figure watching them from a balcony above them.

* * *

Hitomi awoke in the morning feeling refreshed. She felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Then she remembered exactly what she said to Van.

"Shit! I must have sounded like a love-sick fool." She mused a loud. She was about to leave the room to find Van and see how much damage she had done, when a knock came at the door.

When she opened to door, there was Van.

_I guess I didn't have to go too far._

Van walked right into the room, started pacing and said, "I need your help." He stopped pacing for a moment, and then started again. All the while Hitomi was still standing by the open door with a total look of shock on her face.

A little annoyed by the fact that he had barged in without an invitation. She began talking to herself, "Van! What a surprise!" She paused as if waiting for a something, "Oh, I'm a lot better, thanks for asking. Why don't you come in."?

"Now that you're done being sarcastic," he had stopped pacing and he had his arms crossed over his chest, "I have a problem."

"Your tux doesn't fit? The flowers in the catalogue don't match anything that's on Gaea?" She thought that it was a wedding problem he was worried about.

He just looked at her and said, "No. Alicia left. She didn't say why."

"Not to sound bitter or anything, but why should I care?"

"I think she saw us last night, while we were in the garden."

"That might be a problem." She had thought that they were totally alone the night before.

Van was getting impatient, "Well, you're a woman, what should I do?"

Hitomi just looked at him, "Glad you noticed, but I don't know what to do." She sighed, "I've been a social reject for the past eight years."

Van collapsed into one of the nearby chairs and hung his head. He looked so distraught that Hitomi felt sorry for him.

"You know crawling back on two knees and begging for mercy usually works. But I saw that in a movie."

Van looked up, "Movie?"

Hitomi shook her head, "Never mind. You could always wait and see if she comes back. If she left without telling anyone then she just needs to blow off some steam, if she saw anything at all." She sat down in the chair next to Van's, "You never know."

"Says the psychic."

"Shove it."

They both laughed a bit and when they sobered Van left. Hitomi was alone again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Hitomi was completely alone and bored… Again. She was busy researching Fanalian weddings and discovered that they were no different than a Christian wedding, except for a couple of minor changes, much to her relief. She really didn't want to go into this flying by the seat of her pants.

Since the sudden departure of Princess Alicia yesterday, it left Van and herself to plan this wedding. Which they didn't do much of because Van was usually busy governing the country. She had every intention of going and dragging him away so she could get some work done, but he didn't really seem into the planning while Alicia wasn't there.

Hitomi sighed and collapsed on her bed. It was going to be a long evening. She was informed, yesterday, that she was required to go to a formal dinner to celebrate her return. She rolled her eyes for what seemed to be the tenth time today. Merle was going crazy with what Hitomi was going to wear and how her hair and make up was going to be done. If she didn't know any better, Hitomi would think that Merle didn't like Alicia that much and was trying to push her and Van together.

Without any warning, Merle made her presence known as she burst through Hitomi's door holding miscellaneous dresses and accessories.

"Knocking, would be something for you to start practicing, Merle." Hitomi was ignored and Merle began thrusting dresses at the unsuspecting woman.

"We have to find the perfect dress," was all the cat-girl said as she got to work.

Two hours and twenty dresses later a resounding shout of, "Eureka," was heard throughout the palace.

Hitomi nearly fell over from shock. Merle had deemed the dress that she now wore as worthy for the festivities for that night. It was a red, thinly strapped dress with sequin designs along the bust and down the sides. It was form-fitting until it hit mid-thigh, and then fanned out with a split down the side. It was also low-backed, which according to Merle, was fairly uncommon for women to wear for these occasions.

Hitomi took one look in the mirror and she was surprised as to what she saw. The dress wasn't something she would have picked out for herself, but it was gorgeous none-the-less. She was pleased to say that she looked quite hot.

"You definitely won't be ignored by anyone in this," said Merle. "Lord Van might even throw away bitch-face after taking a look at you."

Hitomi smiled, her suspicions confirmed. "So, you really don't like Van's fiancé, I take it."

Merle snorted and began to do Hitomi's makeup. "That is the understatement of the year."

Hitomi just smiled and closed her eyes, as Merle indicated, so she could apply some eyeliner.

"I was always hoping that you would come and put a stop to this Alicia nonsense." Merle stepped away from Hitomi to get some lipstick, and then gave her a purely evil smile. "We're halfway there, Her Whore-ness isn't here now."

They both couldn't help but burst out into laughter.

* * *

Hitomi and Merle were walking down the hallways to the grand hall where the dinner was to be held. When they entered the room, there were numerous tables set up in a semi-circle as to leave room for a dance floor. Each table had place cards showing who was sitting where with a flower center piece. Hitomi hoped that she was at least seated with Merle. There were already several couples dancing to a slow waltz, while others watched from their respective seats.

Merle, already knowing where they were seated, brought Hitomi to one of the tables that were closer to the dance floor. She watched the couples dance and played absently with her place card. A server-boy came up to her and offered a glass of what she thought was a type of wine. She took it and downed it fairly quickly, she didn't even notice who was sitting beside her.

"I hope you're not planning on getting severely drunk tonight, Hitomi." It was Allen, and he was dressed for the occasion in his knightly best. He was still a very handsome man, but she was no long attracted to him, he was a good friend.

Hitomi just looked at him. "I'm not planning on it, but if it happens I'm not going to complain, at least until tomorrow morning. It'll numb what I'm feeling, at least for a while."

Allen knew what she was talking about and didn't probe any deeper. He instead smiled and asked, "Have you met my sister?" He then turned to indicate the woman sitting beside him. "This is Celena."

Hitomi had heard about Celena the last time she was on Gaea. She smiled politely at the girl and turned to her now full wine glass.

She was totally engrossed in her wine that she almost didn't hear someone clear their throat from behind her. Hitomi turned to lay her eyes on the Fanalian King, and he looked heavenly. He was wearing a white dress shirt that was had the first couple of buttons undone, and a black cape with black dress pants, his coronation sword attached to him, like always.

She just stared dumbly at him and he smiled. "Would you like to dance, Hitomi?"

She just nodded and put he hand into his. He led her over to the dance floor and turned her to face him. He placed the hand that wasn't holding hers on her waist and she placed her free hand on his shoulder. She was looking down at their feet when she heard him give a small laugh. She looked up and her green eyes immediately met smouldering red ones. He led them through the dance and all she could do was follow, for she was being swallowed by his intense gaze.

_I'm still in love with him._ Her eyes grew wide with her realization and she almost cried, for she knew that he didn't feel the same for her. He was going to marry Alicia and she was planning the wedding, how could she forget.

"You look beautiful." She was brought out of her reverie by his words. "You must be the most beautiful creature at this entire affair."

She gave a small laugh, "You wouldn't be saying that if your fiancé were here."

Van didn't retort. They just kept on dancing, unaware that they were the only ones and every eye in the room was trained on them.

* * *

The dinner itself was completely uneventful. Hitomi was sitting at a table with Allen, Celena, Merle and a noble couple that she didn't even know the name of. She would occasionally look at Van who was sitting at a table reserved for Fanalian royalty, Alicia would sit there with him if she was even there. Hitomi sat there playing with her food, and drinking her wine. Allen tried telling her to slow down, but she snapped at him saying that she was a grown woman and didn't need him taking care of her.

The evening was winding down and Hitomi was still sitting in her same spot. She hadn't moved since her dance with Van, having turned down several offers from other men throughout the evening. Allen and Merle would exchange glances every now and then, when she was drinking another glass of wine, or when she would glance at Van and look like she was going to cry.

Allen, taking initiative, gently took her arm, "Come on Hitomi, let's get you up to your room."

At his touch Hitomi glowered at him and snapped, "Don't you dare touch me Allen." She had said it too loud and a certain king had heard her outburst and came to see what was wrong. Hitomi had gotten up and was about to walk away from the Knight Caeli, but it was at that moment that the alcohol hit her and she stumbled right into Van's arms. Van caught her around her waist and she was clinging to his shoulders for dear life. The room was spinning.

"I'll take her, Allen," Van said and helped Hitomi stand properly and led her out of the grand hall.

It took twice as long to get Hitomi to her room had she been sober. Van was constantly making sure she didn't collide with anything or fall. They arrived at Hitomi's door and he was about to open it when she flung her arms around his neck and leaned into him.

"Hitomi, what are you doing?" he asked. Her face was getting increasingly closer to his, like she was going to kiss him.

"I want to kiss you Van Fanel." She slurred. "I want you to kiss me like you love me." She put her head on his chest and whispered, "Because I still love you."

Van didn't know what to do with the drunk woman in his arms. She was just standing there, holding him, waiting for something to happen. He took a step back and put his hand under her chin so she would look at him. He looked into her eyes and saw nothing but admiration and love.

The look on her face then changed and she started to looked a little green. Van didn't have time to react, for at that moment, Hitomi threw up on him. She took at step back and through tears started apologizing profusely. Her eyes then widened again and she ran into her room and into the bathroom, leaving Van in the hall. She didn't even close the doors and he could here her vomiting and every so often a "oh god" could be heard.

Van took off his soiled shirt and went into the room and bathroom. There was Hitomi, in her gown, passed out by her toilet. He just shook his head and went to over to her and picked her up to bring her to her bed. He laid her down and went back into her bathroom to wet a cloth to wash her face a bit. After he had done that he went back to her and sat at the edge of her bed, and cleaned her up a bit. He then moved to one of the chairs in her room and kept of vigil over her. She got herself too drunk and needed to be watch for the time being.

After a few hours, Van resolved that she would be okay for the rest of the night and got up to leave. He walked over to her bed and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. She then turned over and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like his name.

"What am I going to do with you, Hitomi." With that, he left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

**Chapter Six**

It was a bright and sunny morning when Hitomi awoke, which didn't help the hangover she had anymore than it was. She knew that she shouldn't have drunk so much the night before, but she did and got intoxicated. She hoped that she didn't behave badly; she could only remember bits and pieces of the night. One thing for sure, she did remember losing her meal all over Van.

'Just great,' she thought. This was going to be interesting to try and explain.

Hitomi collapsed back onto the pillows and closed her eyes against the invading light. Van probably thought that she was a complete and utter fool. She suddenly opened her eyes with realization. Did she tell him that she loved him? She couldn't remember. She rose from the bed and was cursing the alcohol that she consumed.

There was a knock at the door as Hitomi was trying to sift through her memories. "Come in."

The door opened and Merle walked into the room. "Wow Hitomi, you sure did get drunk last night." The cat-girl had a smirk on her face and she was trying to keep herself from laughing.

"Go ahead and laugh," Hitomi started. "I'm pretty sure that I made a spectacle out of myself last night."

Merle's smirk grew a little larger as she spoke, "I'm sure I saw Lord Van last night walking to his room with a soiled shirt in his hands."

Hitomi sighed. "Yah," she replied, "I think remember something of the sort." She flopped back down onto the bed, wincing at the pain in her head. "I haven't had that much to drink… Ever."

Merle came to sit beside the older woman. "You feel okay? You still look a little green."

Because her head was pounding, Hitomi was barely able to make the movement of shaking her head to Merle. "I think I'm going to curl up here and try to recover for the day." Her curtains were drawn so the room had little light, so that wasn't hurting her head too much.

"I'll bring you something to eat," Merle said, "you might feel better with something in your stomach." She got up and headed to the door. Hitomi heard the faint click of the door closing indicating that her friend had left the room.

* * *

A few hours later Hitomi was awoken by the sound of her door opening and closing. At first she thought that it was Merle bringing her some food like she said. She was surprised when she turned over to see not Merle, but Van instead. While blinking to make sure she wasn't still dreaming, Hitomi moved to get out of bed and greet him.

Van noticed her movements, "No, don't get up." He went and sat beside her on he bed looking intently at her he asked, "How is your stomach feeling?"

At the mention of her stomach, Hitomi blushed, remembering what Merle told her earlier about Van's soiled shirt. "I'm fine, thanks," she paused for a second, "and sorry about your shirt."

Van smiled at her, "I have plenty, so it wasn't that big of a loss."

Nodding, Hitomi realized that her pounding headache has dissipated to that of a dull throb, much to her relief. "I feel bad about it. I usually don't drink that much, if anything at all." She was definitely embarrassed from last night and now that she was faced with Van, she wasn't sure as to what she might have said to him, and from looking at him; he wasn't going to divulge if she did. Probably saving her from herself.

Van was looking at her intently, and Hitomi shifted in the bed under his gaze. "I actually came up here for a reason," he said. "I think that we need to have a talk."

_Oh, shit… I did say something._

"When you left," Van began, "I was sure that I wouldn't find anybody else to make me happy." He was looking directly into her eyes, not moving from where he was sitting. "And then I met Alicia and she was a great person, not like the other princesses that are around." Sighing, Van moved closer to Hitomi, taking hold of one of her hands, "I knew that I wasn't in love with her per say, but my advisors were pestering me to get married and all that bullshit, so I asked Alicia and she accepted."

Hitomi gasped. "Van," she started, "what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that I still have feelings for you." At that moment, Hitomi's breath hitched. "It was last night, while in your drunken stupor," Hitomi glared at him, "you asked me to kiss you like I love you, that I realized that you were covering up your feelings this whole time." He brought his hand up to her cheek, running his thumb along her cheekbone, "Maybe you thought that I was happy, I don't know."

Hitomi closed her eyes at the sense of his touch. "And now that you know how I feel?" Her voice barely came out as a whisper. She was scared as to what the answer would be. The last thing that she wanted was to see him in the arms of another woman, especially one he didn't love.

Sighing, Van answered her. "I honestly don't know." He dropped his gaze for a moment, "Breaking off the wedding might cause problems between our two countries, but I can't be sure."

Nodding, Hitomi was trying to not let the tears that were forming fall. "This has been the hardest thing that I have ever done, planning the wedding of the man that I love to another girl." She put both of her hands on his face, pulling him in closer to her. "I can't stand to see you married to anyone else," her words were barely above a whisper as she brought him closer and gently caressed his lips with her own. She felt him stiffen at the touch for just a moment before her realized and responded to her kiss.

"Wow," Van said as he pulled away from her, "I wasn't expecting that."

* * *

It had been a week since the dinner. Hitomi was, albeit reluctantly, was still helping to plan the wedding. There wasn't any word as to what Van was going to do, and she hadn't really had a chance to talk to him since she had kissed him in her room. Princess Alicia was due to arrive back in Fanelia today, and Hitomi wasn't exactly looking forward to it. It was true what she had told Van a week ago, it was the hardest thing that ever had to do, but she was trying to preserver, if only just for his sake.

Hitomi was in the kitchens with Merle and the palace's cooks, going over options for the meal to be served, so that they could give a sample to the royal couple, so that they could make a decision as to what they wanted. Taking a look at the planner that she had almost permanently attached to her person she started going over her schedule for the day. "So, once Alicia gets back, I'm taking her for a final fitting of her dress, then flowers, then we're coming back here for the sampling." She looked at Merle, "You are to make sure that Van shows for the smapling. I've noticed that he can get immersed in what he's doing. Kidnap him for all I care, just make sure that he's here." Her voice was all business. She wasn't going to let her personal feelings get in her way.

Merle nodded at the instuctions that she was given, "I've been known to get Lord Van away from work. It's a talent." She smiled at the older woman, widely.

Hitomi smiled back at Merle, slightly shedding her business persona, and looked back at the planner, "And tomorrow is Van's fitting, and place settings, and I do believe that there will be a meeting with the vicar." She stared at the note she had made in the corner of the planner, " That is what the priest is called, right." She had been studying Fanelian weddings since she got this job, but some of the terminology was confusing to her sometimes.

"Yah, that's pretty much it," Merle replied, "In Fanelia, we don't have a bunch of priests, like in Astoria, we just have the one representative for the divine."

Hitomi was scribbling the note in her planner when a maid came into the kitchen announcing that the princess had arrived. She cloes her tiny book, "I gues I'm on." And she strode out of the room, on a mission.

It took a little while to find Alicia. She was in the reception room, with Van. They looked like they were in an intimate embrace, which hurt Hitomi deeply, considering what Van had told her the week before.

Hitomi took a deep breath and walked, purposefully, into the room. "Sorry to be rude," she said as she walked towards the couple, "you can blame it on me being foreign, but I get this young lady for the rest of the day." She took hold of Alica's hand and led her out of ther room. She stopped at the door, pushing the princess ahead of her, "Van, you're meeting us later, don't worry, Merle will remind you, and I get you at 10 tomorrow morning." With that she left the room, thankful that she was wearing her pant suit and not one of the Fanelian dresses that Merle was trying to get her to wear because, at this moment, she was walked pretty fast.


	7. Chapter 7

Hitomi sat on a cushy chair watching Alicia getting fitted for her dress. It was, by her standards, the ugliest dress that she had ever laid eyes on, but she since she wasn't asked her opinion, then she wasn't going to give it. There were way too many ruffles and frills for Hitomi's taste. Even one ruffle or frill was enough to make the woman dislike a piece of clothing. If the style of the dress was a Fanelian thing, then she was almost glad that she wasn't the one marrying Van... Almost.

Hitomi was deep in thought when she heard Alicia's voice. "Lady Hitomi?" She still wasn't used to the title, it was way too weird to her.

"Yes?"

Alicia was watching her in the mirror, looking thoughtful. "I was wondering how much of the stories of the war are true," she paused for a moment, "Particularly the ones about you and Van."

Sighing, Hitomi got up from where she was and walked over to the pedestal that Alicia was standing on. She should have guessed this would be a topic of conversation with all the time that she was to be spending with the princess. "I don't know what has been said over the years, but I can clarify anything that you ask." She pretended to be adjusting a ruffle on the dress, "I don't know why you wouldn't ask Van about it, I'm sure he would tell you."

"Van doesn't like to talk about the war, I'm assuming." She turned to face Hitomi, "I've tried but he just doesn't want to talk about it with me."

Hitomi shrugged, "What do you want to know?"

A slight flush came to Alicia's face. "It's said that your love is what won the Destiny War..." She trailed off, not sure how to continue. Hitomi raised an eyebrow at her, confused as to where she was going. "What I want to know is if you still love Van."

Hitomi's breath hitched. She wasn't expecting that one, at least not now. she paused for a minute, trying to think of an answer to give the young bride. On the one hand she could be honest and tell Alicia that she was still in love with the king and wanted to be with him, and the princess could dissolve the engagement and she could live happily ever after; or she could just let things be the way they are. She chose the latter, because there was no telling exactly how the woman would react.

"It doesn't matter. He's marrying you now." Those were the hardest words that had ever come out of her mouth. She fixed her expression so Alicia wouldn't push the subject, finished up with the fitting. "You make a very beautiful bride."

* * *

"Why the hell didn't you just say that you still loved Lard Van?" Merle was not in the best of moods now that Hitomi had told what happened at Alicia's fitting.

Hitomi sighed and flopped onto her bed. "I don't know. I guess I was in 'wedding planner' mode and didn't want personal feelings to get in the way" She pulled a pillow over her face, "I'm a moron."

"I could have told you that one." Merle was almost seething with annoyance. "I really hope you know what you're doing."

Hitomi just looked in Merle's direction, not missing a beat, "Cardinal Rule of wedding planning: don't fall for the groom."

"Oh, that's just rich," Merle scoffed, "you've been in love with Lord Van since you were fifteen!"

Pulling a pillow over her face, Hitomi groaned, "I know." She was trying really hard to be impartial with all this wedding stuff, but she was finding it increasingly harder. "I probably should have told her the truth, right?"

"You're a complete and utter moron, you know that?"

* * *

Hitomi was waiting in the kitchens for the royal couple. She had arrived early, so that she could make preparations for the tasting, but she was just a little too early and now she was bored. Sitting in the quiet kitchen was giving her too much time to think, and she wasn't sure she liked where her mind was going.

Earlier in the day she had basically renounced her claim on Van to the princess. Her mind was saying it was the practical choice; he had said himself that there didn't seem to be a way to dissolve the engagement. Her heart, on the other hand, was kicking and screaming and demanding that she fight for him and not give him up.

Needless to say, she was full of confusion. Her heart and her head were in a battle and it left the woman confused and questioning her every move. Why couldn't her life be simple? Her heart was telling her that she still loved the king, but her mind was being practical. Van was a king. He needed to marry a princess for Fanelia. Even if it did turn out that he still had feelings for Hitomi, she would never forgive herself if he threw away the stability of his country for her; and she knew that he never would anyway, it just wasn't him.

Hitomi leaning on the counter she was sitting at and tried to stop her racing thoughts. She zoned out for what seemed like several minutes before she heard the chatter of Alicia. It seemed like the girl really did love Van, and that was made all of this hurt even more for her. As she heard the voice grow closer to her location, Hitomi slapped on her favourite fake smile and prepared to help the royal couple with the choices for dinner.

First it was Alicia who entered the room with Merle hot on her heels. Hitomi raised an eyebrow in confusion, as she had giving Merl explicit instructions to make sure that Van was to attend as well.

Merle, sensing Hitomi's question just by looking at her, answered the question hanging in the air, "Lord Van isn't going to be attending,"she paused for a moment, blushing in embarrassment, "I guess I'm not as good as I thought I was with getting him away from his work."

Hitomi was trying really hard to make roll her eyes at this. It wasn't Merle's fault, and it was probably a good idea that the cat-woman was there. If Hitomi had to spend any more time alone with Alicia, she wasn't sure what she was going to end up doing.

"That's okay," Hitomi's cheeks were starting to hurt from fake smiling all the time, "he just doesn't get to complain that he doesn't like anything when the day finally comes." And the day was coming fast.

* * *

Hitomi didn't see Van at all for the rest of the day. He wasn't even present at the evening meal. She felt the need to find the man to remind him for his fitting the next morning. His was the last before the "big day" and she felt that she needed to tell him a couple of things before that happened.

She went to his office, which was his usual haunt when he wasn't anywhere else in the palace. She decided that it was the best place to start her search. As she was walking down the hall, she saw Alicia walking towards her. She looked downtrodden and sad. Inwardly, Hitomi was confused. Why would she be sad? She was getting married in a couple of days... unless...

Hitomi stopped mid-step and looked at Alicia. The younger girl raised her head to meet her gaze. Hitomi was shocked as to how red the princess' eyes were and how she definitely looked like she had been crying. She was normally so well kept together, not a flaw shown.

"I hope you'll be happy." Hitomi almost didn't catch the words, as they were whispered so quietly. She didn't get a chance to reply as Alicia took off running down the hall and away from Hitomi, leaving the woman alone and confused in the hallway.

Her mind was running over all sorts of possibilities from that exchange as she continued walking towards Van' office. He was the only one who could answer what was going on. Hitomi had an inkling as to what had happen, but she refused to get her hopes up just in case she was mistaken. Maybe the wedding date had been pushed back for some reason or another. That would definitely make her happy, as she wouldn't be rushing around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get all of the details organized.

She arrived in front of the office doors, her heart and mind still arguing over what had transpired. She knocked on the door, trying to ignore the nervous feeling in her stomach. When she heard his distant, "come in," Hitomi opened the door to see Van sitting behind his desk, staring at a glass of amber liquid. He looked deep in thought and he looked up when he heard her close the door. He smiled at her warmly, and motioned for her to sit down in one of the two chairs that sat in front of his giant desk. She did just that, keeping her eyes on the Fanelian king.

"I just-" she started, but was cut off when he raised his hand, signaling her to stop.

"I know that you're probably a little more that confused right now," he started, "as I'm sure that you've seen Alicia leaving here not that long ago, so I'm not going to mince word right now and just come out and say it." He got up from his chair and moved around the desk and came to kneel beside the chair that Hitomi was now seated in. "I love you Hitomi Kanzaki."

Hitomi brought both of her hands up to cover her mouth. Van wasn't known for these great shows of affection, so it was shocking to say the least. She was still trying to get over her shock when she asked, "But what about Alicia?"

He smiled at her, "We decided to break it off. well, more I decided to break it off, but she agreed. I guess she must have known something." He took a hold of one of Hitomi's hands, bringing it away from her face, "I knew that I just couldn't be happy without you with me."

"But what about Fanelia?" Hitomi's rational mind was kicking in. She knew that marrying a princess was better for the country than starting any kind of relationship with her, a commoner from another planet no-less. At hearing Van's chuckle she raised an eyebrow.

"Hitomi," he started, "Fanelia is doing better now than before the war. Alicia is heartbroken, but she agreed that war wasn't any course of action and she would return home."

Hitomi didn't have any words. She did the only thing that she could think of at the time, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and kissed him hard on the mouth. She poured all the emotion that she could into the kiss. She snaked her hands around his neck, pulling him closer to her. When she pulled back, she looked deep into his eyes and said, "I love you too, Van Fanel."

He smiled back at her, placed his hand on her cheek and this time he was the one to initiate the kiss.

Author's Note:

Long time no post! I would like to that everyone that's been faving and review and just reading this little work. There's probably only one, maybe two more chapters left. :D


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